Patricia Espinosa currently serves as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Previously, she served as the Ambassador of Mexico to Germany and was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico from 2006 to 2012. As Mexico’s representative in a number of international organizations in Vienna, Geneva and New York, Ms. Espinosa has taken a leadership role in the global challenge against climate change, notably as Chair of the 16th Conference of the Parties which led to the adoption of the Cancun Agreements.
Appointed by the UN Secretary-General to the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, she is a tireless supporter of multilateralism as a way to improve conditions for development in all regions of the world, understanding the inextricable link between the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Elected Chair of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in 1996, she played a key role in the process leading to the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action at the 4th World Conference on Women.
Altogether, she has more than 30 years of experience at the highest-levels of international relations, covering climate change, global governance, sustainable development, gender equality and human rights.
Born in 1958, she holds a postgraduate degree in International Law from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales of Geneva and a degree in International Relations from El Colegio de Mexico. She is fluent in Spanish, English and German but also speaks some French.